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ROOTS OF WOODLAND
Woodland is an original celtic-inspired music ensemble featuring the songwriting and poetic harmonies of Emilio and Kelly Miller-Lopez. For more than 7 years Woodland has been enchanting audiences with their unique blend of original and traditional melodies woven with ornate and meaningful bardic poetry.
Kelly Miller-Lopez is featured on the harp, flutes, percussion and lead vocals, and Emilio Miller-Lopez is featured on guitar and harmony vocals. Fiddler Kimmy Smith drives the melodic power of the group, weaving dynamic harmonic patterns with Emilio's guitar, while also contributing to the vocal sound. Woodland also features the dynamic rhythm section of bassist and didjeridu player Donald Brodsky and drummer MR Rountree.
Live, the bands performances journey between soft sensual acoustic sounds and melody-driven rhythmic tribal rock. For years Woodland concerts and faerie Masquerades have coincided with ancient mythic holidays such as solstices, equinoxes and full moons, with their multi-generational audience arriving at events adorned in masks, robes, horns, wings and crowns in celebration.
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Woodland’s Faerie masquerades and Faerieworlds events have been hugely successful for five years, with attendance between 500-4000 per event. In the fall of 2006 Woodland will take their dynamic music and creative magic to the shores of England for a series of Faerie Masquerades with UK artists Brian and Wendy Froud.
Woodland has performed and headlined at events including The Labyrinth Masquerade in LA, Earthdance near SF, The Oregon Country Fair, the sold-out Full Moon Faerie Masquerade Series and the Faerieworlds Festivals in Sedona, Santa Fe, Los Angeles and Oregon. The band has shared the stage at events with world-renowned artists including Solas, Johnny Cunningham, Susan McKeown, Trillian Green, Rasputina, Brother, Casey Neill, Phil Cunningham, Kevin Burke and more. |
THE WOODLAND STORY
In the Fall of 1998, after 4 years of performing at West Coast festivals and touring with Celtic rock band Spirit Union, Kelly and Emilio Miller-Lopez started writing and production for a new and unusual project. Kelly’s background in Celtic myth and Shakespearean theatre, and Emilio’s skills as a songwriter and music producer converged to create the mythical music of Woodland
“In the beginning, we were in the redwood forests of California, feeling deeply inspired by the artwork of Brian Froud, John Waterhouse and Jen Delyth and the works of writers such as Tom Cowan(Fire in the Head) and John O’Donahue(Anam Cara). We were also moved by the work of Celtic-inspired musicians including Loreena Mckennitt, Solas and Trillian Green.
It seemed that there was a thread running through all of their work, an ancient quality that we resonated with deeply,” says Woodland co-founder Emilio Miller-Lopez.
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Kelly and Emilio Miller-Lopez
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Brian Froud at Faerieworlds
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Within months Woodland began creating mythical masquerade events including the sold out Full Moon Faerie Masquerades, that became meeting grounds for fans of Celtic and Faerie myth and music.
Before long the Miller-Lopez’s had written the first 15 songs to be included on their initial demo EP “Heritage” in fall of 1999. Heritage was a soothing home-brewed EP that caught the ear of many music fans, including Devon artists Brian and Wendy Froud.”
As Brian said in a recent interview with Four Corners Magazine, “When we heard the music of Woodland, we thought how wonderful it was and we were intrigued with the possibilities of how ideas sort of flow outward and get larger...
... We just wanted to help, encourage and expand the world. We put my images together with the music and we received a delighted reaction from the audience.”
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Soon after connecting with Brian and Wendy Froud, Woodland began work on the second home-spun EP entitled, “Into the Twilight”. The new CD featured the Faerie artwork of Brian Froud, and 13 original tracks written by Kelly and Emilio Miller-Lopez. The album’s title track was a musical rendition of the W.B. Yeats poem “Into the Twilight” from his book of poems The Wind Amongst the Reeds published in 1899.
After the first printing of “Into the Twilight” quickly sold out, Woodland went into the studio to take their recording projects to a new level.
“All the previous recordings had been recorded in our living room at home late at night when our children were asleep. Robert Gould of Imaginosis proposed that we take the songs into a professional studio and remix and remaster.” says Kelly Miller-Lopez. 11 months later Woodland had recorded and remixed 13 songs to be included on their first full-length feature release “Twilight.”
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Harpist Kelly Miller-Lopez
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Fiddler Kim Smith
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Emilio worked with Robert Gould of Imaginosis to develop ECD extras on the release of “TWILIGHT” including an interview, a live video performance from Los Angeles, and a new video called “Masques” featuring never before seen artwork and video by Brian Froud set to an original score by Woodland. The album also featured a live perfromance video from the Los Angeles Faerieworlds Festival, and an exclusive interview with Kelly and Emilio.
Throughout the production of the CDs, Woodland continued creating and hosting live concert events. The combination of Woodland’s music and Brian Froud’s art quickly created a wide and diverse fanbase who came flocking to the masquerade balls.
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The Faerieworlds Festival developed out of the faerie masquerades Woodland had been hosting for years. Faerieworlds took the marriage of music and art a level deeper, with Woodland’s musical performance now accompanied by a animated lightshow of Brian Froud’s art. Thanks to the hard work of Woodland and Imaginosis, in the matter of two years Faerieworlds went from a intimate event in 500-600 person theatres to a day-long outdoor festival with more than 4,000 participants. The 2004 Faerieworlds event was a tribute to Scottish fiddle legend Johnny Cunningham, who was set to produce Woodland’s new album “Seasons in Elfland” when he passed in 2003.
Today, Woodland continues the production of Seaons in Elfland which is set to be replace in two parts. Seasons in Elfland Part 1: The Dark Half is to be released within a year and Season in Elfland Part 2: The Light Half in late 2009.
Woodland also continues to produce events including the upcoming 2008 Faerieworlds Festival in Oregon and FaerieCon 2008 this October in Pennsylvania. |
Didjeridu player and Bassist Donald Brodsky
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